Moms medications

[worriedaboutmom]

My mom has been put on several medications and is no longer herself. She is in a daze and looks, sadly to put it this was, but "high" or "stoned" all the time. All she does is sleep all day. Even if I make plans with her, she will not get up and just continue sleeping. I am worried that she is over medicated, however I do not know much about her medications or MS treatment. I was hoping someone can help me decipher if her new state of slooooooooowed mental capacity is due to these medications, or perhaps MS? She is currently taking,
Clonazepam
Oxcarbazepine
Gabapentin
Topiramate

Are these medications used for MS treatment? Just worried she maybe is over medicated. I am hoping to talk to her and get her off some of them, I just need to be a bit more educated before I bring it up!

[hunterd]

here is the link that I went to, http://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker
this was the only interaction that I found clonazepam + topiramate
clonazepam and topiramate both increase sedation. Potential for dangerous interaction.
as far as what the medication is used for you may want to ask her doctor. Many medications have multiple uses, and I fear that listing down may unnecessarily worry you

[okhoney]

I dont't know about most of them but Gabapentin is used for nerve pain and normally the dosage keeps being increased and can result in a drugged out state. My Dr. offered it to me and I refused because I prefer to take as little medication as possible. My mom also has MS and will take a pill for EVERYTHING! I knew for years that she was over medicated. Do your research. You can probably search all of those drugs here. Notate the dosages on her pharmacy bottles and head to your local pharmacy and ask the pharmacist about them. My mom was on a couple of anti-depressants and had bottles of narcotic painkillers and muscle relaxers from 2 or 3 Drs. Thankfully after several years she finally got off all that stuff!

It's hard when you have to mother your mother.
Don't ignore the warning bells in your head.
Good luck!!

[Kimba22]

Hi worriedaboutmom,

Welcome to MSWorld! Sorry to hear about your mom and it really is a good thing you are concerned. Fatigue is an MS symptom (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...mptoms/Fatigue), but her seeming "stoned" sounds more like it's from the medications! I think it would be a good idea to find out exactly why each one is prescribed, since they can used for different reasons. Sounds like a good discussion is in order with her neurologist (I'm assuming that's who prescribed all of them) about how they are affecting your mom. It sounds like she might need to be taken off some of them, but that should be done under a doctor's supervision.

Here is some information about why these drugs are used in MS that I hope will be helpful:

Clonazapam:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Tre...Syn-Clonazepam

Topiramate, Clonazapam, Gabapentin:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...ymptoms/Tremor
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/For...agement/Tremor
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conten...sclerosis.html

Topiramate:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...ptoms/Headache
http://myelitis.org/newsletters/v7n2...m#.U1BrWYwpDML
http://www.msworld.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1291598
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...s/a697012.html

Oxacarbazepine:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17603770
http://mssociety.ca/en/information/s...moodhumeur.htm
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...ptoms/Seizures

Gabapentin:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Tre...ions/Neurontin

Best of luck helping your mom!